A. NUTALL KINDERGARTEN MURAL

Commencing in 1955, Alfred Nuttall Kindergarten has established an excellent reputation as a nurturing kindergarten providing an important service in the Fairfield community. Close to public transport, the centre is situated close to and liaises with the Perry Street Child Care Centre so that 4 Year Old Group children can use both facilities (staff are responsible for walking the children between the two centres). The friendly and approachable staff include two highly qualified and experienced teachers with special education training. Enthusiastic and dedicated, they are committed to encouraging each child's uniqueness in an atmosphere of warmth, safety and trust.

The mural is painted on the front wall of the kindergarten, but whenever I have passed by the door has been locked so I could not get any close-up shots nor determine who painted it. It is a bright welcoming mural well-suited to the place it adorns.

This post is part of the Monday Murals meme.

TRINITY COLLEGE CHAPEL, UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE

The Chapel of Trinity College and Janet Clarke Hall is an Anglican Church in Trinity College’s grounds at the University of Melbourne. People of all denominations and faiths or none are welcome at Chapel worship. The College Chaplains, eminent visiting preachers, and members of Trinity and Janet Clarke Hall communities all preach at various services throughout the year.

Chapel services reflect the rich Anglican heritage of Trinity College, but it is not necessary to be an Anglican or a regular worshipper to join in Chapel worship and other activities including Choral Evensong at 6.00pm on Sundays during term and Holy Communion at 5.30pm on Tuesdays, guided by students from the Residential College. Staff and students from the University and the wider community join students and staff in Sunday and weekday worship. Students and staff may also join in Chapel activities including bible studies and College retreats.

Happy Easter to all celebrate it, and a Blessed Palm Sunday to all Eastern Church faithful.

This is a post in the Psalm Sunday meme hosted by Robert and by Louis.

Here is Psalm 118 sung in the fifth tone.

Psalm 118

New King James Version (NKJV)

Praise to God for His Everlasting Mercy

1

Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!
For His mercy endures forever.

2 

Let Israel now say,
“His mercy endures forever.”

3 

Let the house of Aaron now say,
“His mercy endures forever.”

4 

Let those who fear the Lord now say,
“His mercy endures forever.”

5 

I called on the Lord in distress;
The Lord answered me and set me in a broad place.

6 

The Lord is on my side;
I will not fear.
What can man do to me?

7 

The Lord is for me among those who help me;
Therefore I shall see my desire on those who hate me.

8 

It is better to trust in the Lord
Than to put confidence in man.

9 

It is better to trust in the Lord
Than to put confidence in princes.

10 

All nations surrounded me,
But in the name of the Lord I will destroy them.

11 

They surrounded me,
Yes, they surrounded me;
But in the name of the Lord I will destroy them.

12 

They surrounded me like bees;
They were quenched like a fire of thorns;
For in the name of the Lord I will destroy them.

13 

You pushed me violently, that I might fall,
But the Lord helped me.

14 

The Lord is my strength and song,
And He has become my salvation.[a]

15 

The voice of rejoicing and salvation
Is in the tents of the righteous;
The right hand of the Lord does valiantly.

16 

The right hand of the Lord is exalted;
The right hand of the Lord does valiantly.

17 

I shall not die, but live,
And declare the works of the Lord.

18 

The Lord has chastened me severely,
But He has not given me over to death.

19 

Open to me the gates of righteousness;
I will go through them,
And I will praise the Lord.

20 

This is the gate of the Lord,
Through which the righteous shall enter.

21 

I will praise You,
For You have answered me,
And have become my salvation.

22 

The stone which the builders rejected
Has become the chief cornerstone.

23 

This was the Lord’s doing;
It is marvelous in our eyes.

24 

This is the day the Lord has made;
We will rejoice and be glad in it.

25 

Save now, I pray, O Lord;
O Lord, I pray, send now prosperity.

26 

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
We have blessed you from the house of the Lord.

27 

God is the Lord,
And He has given us light;
Bind the sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar.

28 

You are my God, and I will praise You;
You are my God, I will exalt You.

29 

Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!
For His mercy endures forever.

MELBOURNE BY NIGHT 2

It is a rather quiet Easter Saturday in Melbourne this year, with many people having gone away for the long Easter weekend. As I was driving home tonight, I took a few photos around Olympic Boulevard in the Sports and Entertainment Precinct, in inner Melbourne. The Swan Street Bridge over the Yarra, the riverbank and the AAMI Park stadium provided a few interesting shots. AAMI Park became Melbourne's first large purpose built rectangular stadium. At the time of its conception the largest stadiums in use were the MCG, Docklands Stadium and Princes Park. These were all of oval configuration and best suited to Australian rules football or cricket. The largest rectangular stadium in the city, Olympic Park, was a repurposed track and field venue. After being referred to as Melbourne Rectangular Stadium during its construction, the ground was officially named AAMI Park on 16 March 2010, in an eight year sponsorship deal with an insurance firm. Its geodesic dome design is quite striking by day or night.

This is part of the Weekend Reflections meme,
and also of the Sunday Bridges meme.

AUTUMN SUNSET, FAIRFIELD

We had a lovely sunset yesterday in Fairfield. I just went out into our front yard and took this photo. Although our days are fair, warm and sunny, as soon as evening falls we are starting to see some drops in the temperature that makes for comfortable sleeping.

This post is part of Sylvia's Skywatch Friday meme.

MELBOURNE STREET TREES 15

The lemon is both a small evergreen tree (Citrus × limon, often given as C. limon) native to Asia, as well as the tree's ellipsoidal yellow fruit. The fruit is used for culinary and non-culinary purposes throughout the world – primarily for its juice, though the pulp and rind (zest) are also used, mainly in cooking and baking. Lemon juice is about 5% to 6% (approximately 0.3 M) citric acid, which gives lemons a sour taste, and a pH of 2–3. Many lemon flavoured drinks and foods are available, including lemonade and sherbet lemons, as well as lemon and seasoning salt as a snack. The distinctive sour taste of lemon juice makes it a key ingredient in many dishes across the world.

In Melbourne we are blessed with mild enough climate for all citrus fruits to thrive and there is hardly any self-respecting garden that does not grow one or two lemon trees!

This post is part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

DREWERY LANE, MELBOURNE

Drewery Lane is another of Melbourne city alleys that runs between Lonsdale Street and LaTrobe St, close to Swanston St. On first inspection it is a very mundane alley that appears to have primary service function in terms of deliveries and rubbish collection.

However, Drewery Lane is also the home of Baroq House, a home for the fashion elite in Melbourne - a place where world-class DJs rub shoulders with footballers and platinum blondes. Like those parties you see in the movies there are flowers and extras (known in the industry as 'warm props').

Some may find the quality of Baroq's patrons somewhat questionable, but what is beyond question is the place's dedication to luxury: Decked in tropical rainforest wood, faux pillars that reach for the ceiling hung with sparkling chandeliers and billowing curtains, and square kilometres of flocked wallpaper.

It's truly a palace of opulence and the prices fo the cocktails remind you of it (how about a $40 fot he Patron Margarita - Patron Anejo tequila and Citronge liqueur shaken with lime juice and gomme, or if your tastes are more expensive, how about the $150 Dom Perignon Champagne Cocktail - a bitters-soaked sugar cube and Hennessy Paradis Extra Cognac topped with Dom Perignon?). Their website is worth a look.

Other little lanes branch off Drewery Lane and they are filled with interesting graffiti.

This post is part of Lesley's Signs, Signs meme.

DEEP CREEK RESERVE, EAST DONCASTER

The Mullum Mullum Creek winds lazily through northeastern Melbourne, flowing from South to North and emptying into the Yarra River near Eltham South. Along its path there are many nature reserves where there are picnic facilities and also of course havens for the native flora and fauna. Residents of the outer suburbs of Melbourne have ready access to many such waterways and reserves, which makes living in the big metropolis very attractive - all of the comforts and diversions of a big urban centre, but also the joys of country life all within a radius of a few tens of kilometres. These photos are taken in Deep Creek Reserve close to Warrandyte Rd.

This post is part of the Watery Wednesday meme,
and also of the Outdoor Wednesday meme,
and also of the Nature Footsteps Waters meme,
and also of the Water World Wednesday meme.

MELBOURNE CEMETERY MONUMENTS

The Melbourne General Cemetery is a large necropolis located 2 km north of the city of Melbourne in the suburb of Carlton North.  The cemetery was opened on 1 June 1853, and the Old Melbourne Cemetery (on the site of what is now the Queen Victoria Market) was closed the next year.  The Melbourne Cemetery has much history and home to more than half a million stories.  This cemetery is full of fiery preachers, con men, courageous women, scandals, disasters and joyous occasions. Musicians, actors, scientists and ordinary people who have helped make Melbourne the metropolis it is now. A miscellany of photos today of monuments, statues, mausolea and graves.

This post is part of Julie's Taphophile Tragics meme.

This pavilion is for the rest and refreshment of cemetery visitors - much needed on a sunny, warm day like the day of our visit was

The Elvis Presley memorial, which is a cenotaph (cenotaph = "empty grave" in Greek)

One of the mausolea in the cemetery, which is reminiscent of a "kokh" - A kokh (plural: kokhim, Hebrew: כּוּךְ) is a type of tomb complex characterised by a series of long narrow shafts, in which the deceased were placed for burial, radiating from a central chamber. These tomb complexes were generally carved into a rock face, and were usually closed with a stone slab and had channels cut into the centre of the shaft to drain any water that seeped through the rock.

There are several devotional chapels on the cemetery and this is one of the larger ones

A rather magnificent and exuberant statue of Christ resurrected adorning one of the graves 

This delightful little angel was on top of a gravestone. It is obviously mass-produced as one may find numerous identical such statuettes on many a headstone, but nevertheless quite effective in its ingenuousness

HOSIER LANE - OUTDOOR GALLERY

I have blogged before about Hosier Lane, one of the central Melbourne alleyways that form such an integral part of what makes Melbourne the cosmopolitan urban centre that it is. The Melbourne City Council is rather relaxed about graffiti in this laneway and as a consequence, this alley is highly decorated with all sorts of art, graffiti and tagging, which keeps changing as it is overpainted frequently. I recently walked through it and took some photos.

This post is part of the Monday Murals meme.

AUTUMN ARRIVES IN MELBOURNE

A lovely Autumn day today, which we spent at the Exhibition Gardens which was hosting the Melbourne International Flower and Garden show. The Show was spectacular and the exhibits marvellous (stay tuned for lots of photos!). Here are some trees showing autumn colours.

This post is part of the Scenic Sunday meme,
And also for Kim's Water World Wednesday meme.